Aftershocks cause more terror as Nepal quake toll tops 2,300

Apr 26, 2015

Powerful aftershocks rocked Nepal Sunday, panicking survivors of a quake that killed more than 2,300 and triggering fresh avalanches at Everest base camp, as rescuers dug through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu.

KATHMANDU - Powerful aftershocks rocked Nepal Sunday, panicking survivors of a quake that killed more than 2,300 and triggering fresh avalanches at Everest base camp, as rescuers dug through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu.

Terrified residents, many forced to camp out in the capital after Saturday's quake reduced buildings to rubble, were jolted by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock that compounded the worst disaster to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in more than 80 years.

At overstretched hospitals, where medics were also treating patients in hastily erected tents, staff were forced to flee from buildings for fear of further collapses.

"Electricity has been cut off, communication systems are congested and hospital are crowded and are running out of room for storing dead bodies," Oxfam Australia chief executive Helen Szoke told AFP.



Nepalese resident Dhanjay Kami, 84, is moved to a bed to be treated for injuries sustained in an earthquake at a city hospital in Kathmandu on April 26, 2015. International aid groups and governments intensified efforts to get rescuers and supplies into earthquake-hit Nepal on April 26, 2015, but severed communications and landslides in the Himalayan nation posed formidable challenges to the relief effort.  AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH

Climbers reported that the aftershock caused more avalanches at Mount Everest, just after helicopters airlifted to safety those injured when a wall of snow hit base camp on Saturday, killing at least 18 people.

The deadliest disaster in Everest's history comes almost exactly a year after an avalanche killed 16 sherpa guides, forcing the season to be cancelled, and as around 800 mountaineers were gathered at the start of the new season.

AFP's Nepal bureau chief Ammu Kannampilly, who was on assignment at base camp, reported that six helicopters had managed to reach the mountain on Sunday after the weather improved overnight.

A stunning image captured by the agency's South Asia photo chief Roberto Schmidt showed a massive cloud of snow and debris cascading onto base camp, burying scores of climbers and flattening tents.



An injured person is loaded onto a rescue helicopter at Everest Base Camp on April 26, 2015, a day after an avalanche triggered by an earthquake devastated the camp. Rescuers in Nepal are searching frantically for survivors of a huge quake on April 25, that killed nearly 2,000, digging through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu and airlifting victims of an avalanche at Everest base Camp.  The bodies of those who perished lie under orange tents.  AFP PHOTO/ROBERTO SCHMIDT

"People being stretchered out as choppers land -- half a dozen this morning," Kannampilly said in a text message. "Weather clear, some snowfall."

Aid pours in


Offers of help poured in from around the world, with the United States and European Union announcing they were sending in disaster response teams.

India flew out its stranded citizens in military planes while a 62-strong Chinese rescue team arrived with sniffer dogs.

National police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said the number known to have died in Nepal had risen to 2,152 while 4,629 people had been injured.

Officials in India said the toll there now stood at 57, while Chinese state media said 17 people had been killed in the Tibet region.



Nepalese rescue personnel help a trapped earthquake survivor (C/R) as his friend lies dead next to him in Swyambhu, in Kathmandu on April 26, 2015. Rescuers in Nepal searched frantically for survivors of a quake that killed more than 2,000, digging through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu and airlifting victims of an avalanche at Everest base camp.   AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH MATHEMA

"We have deployed all our resources for search and rescues," Bam told AFP. "Helicopters have been sent to remote areas. We are sifting through the rubble where buildings have collapsed to see if we can find anyone."

The Red Cross said it was concerned about the fate of villages near the epicentre of the quake northwest of Kathmandu.

The country's cellphone network was working only sporadically, while large parts of the capital were without electricity.

Devastation in Kathmandu

AFP correspondents in Kathmandu reported that tremors were felt throughout the night, including one strong aftershock at dawn before the 6.7-magnitude follow-up quake that struck in the afternoon.



Chinese search and rescue personnel walk with their search dogs as they prepare to head to earthquake-ravaged Nepal from Beijing on April 26, 2015. China on April 26 dispatched a 62-member search and rescue team to Nepal, the state news agency reported, after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people.  CHINA OUT   AFP PHOTO

"It has been a sleepless night, how can we sleep? It has been shaking all night. We are just praying that this will end and we can return home," said Nina Shrestha, a 34-year-old banker who spent the night with hundreds of people on open ground in the capital's Tudhikhel district.

The historic nine-storey Dharahara tower, a major tourist attraction, was among the buildings brought down in Kathmandu Saturday, with at least a dozen bodies recovered from the ruins of the 19th-century structure.


Nepalese residents carry belongings following fresh tremors in Kathmandu on April 26, 2015. International aid groups and governments intensified efforts to get rescuers and supplies into earthquake-hit Nepal on April 26, 2015, but severed communications and landslides in the Himalayan nation posed formidable challenges to the relief effort.  AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH

As rescuers sifted through the huge mounds of rubble in the capital, hospitals were overwhelmed with victims who suffered multiple fractures and trauma.

"We have treated many people since yesterday, the majority children," said Samir Acharya, a doctor at Nepal's Annapurna Neurological Hospital.

"Most patients have head injuries or fractures. Two of our patients died, two are critical."

Acharya said medics were working out of a tent set up in a parking lot to cope with the number of injured, while some patients were too scared to stay in the building.



Nepalese residents carry belongings following fresh tremors in Kathmandu on April 26, 2015. International aid groups and governments intensified efforts to get rescuers and supplies into earthquake-hit Nepal on April 26, 2015, but severed communications and landslides in the Himalayan nation posed formidable challenges to the relief effort. AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH

Families had grabbed whatever possessions they could muster and sought shelter on the streets, many of which had been split asunder.

Weather forecasters warned that rain was on the way, with dark clouds looming over Kathmandu and promising more misery for displaced survivors.

Just flattened me


Google executive Dan Fredinburg was one of the climbers to have been confirmed as having been killed in the Everest avalanche.

Experienced mountaineers said panic erupted at base camp, which has been "severely damaged", while one described the avalanche as "huge".

"Those who are able are walking down. Others are being airlifted," said Tulsi Gautam of Nepal's tourism department which issues permits to climb the world's highest mountain.

George Foulsham, a Singapore-based marine biologist, described the moment that the disaster struck.

"I was outside, saw a white 50-storey building of white come at me. I ran and it just flattened me," he told AFP.

"I tried to get up and it flattened me again. I couldn't breathe, I thought I was dead. When I finally stood up, I couldn't believe it passed me over and I was almost untouched.

"I saved for years to climb Everest. It feels like the mountain is saying it's not meant to be climbed for now. Too much of a coincidence to see this twice in two years."

Nepal and the rest of the Himalayas are particularly prone to earthquakes because of the collision of the Indian and Eurasia plates.

An 6.8 magnitude quake hit eastern Nepal in August 1988 killing 721 people, and a magnitude 8.1 quake killed 10,700 people in Nepal and India in 1934.

AFP
 

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